​SPA Region TOTAL: $31,266
Adelaide - $2,167
Brisbane - $3,771
Melbourne - $18,122
Gold Coast- $1,918
Auckland - $1,790
Sydney - $1,500
Perth - $1,000
Misc (online) - $998

Ladies and Gentlemen, distinguished Guest from HOPE worldwide Australia (Dr Mark Timlin and Dr. Graham Gumley), Manager Refugee Clinic Melbourne (Mrs Fay Lea-Smith), Pastor and Women’s Ministry Leader of the Port Moresby Church of Christ (Felix and Ashley Tokwepota), Development Partners, and my wonderful & hardworking HOPE worldwide staff;  It gives me such joy and great pleasure to welcome you all to the commemoration of 25 years of HOPE worldwide PNG’s work in reaching and serving the underprivileged communities in PNG. Twenty five years is a huge milestone for this faith-based community orientated organisation. It is a testament of our resilience to survive, thrive and adapt, never shying away and fully living out our mission and vision every day. It is a testament of ultimately God’s unconditional and unfailing love for us, His people despite our weaknesses & downfalls. God has covered us with his feathers, sheltered us with his wings and his faithful    promises are OUR armour and protection as stated in Psalms of David Chapter 91, verse 4. It is a great privilege and honour to commemorate 25 years of HOPE worldwide PNG with you all. I would like to acknowledge the previous Country Directors (Drs. Graham Ogle & Helen Ogle, Mr. Luke Keria, Ms. Jessica Lesly, Ms. Tessa Temata & Mrs Joan Timothy) who have strategically led HOPE worldwide PNG over the years, Board Members past and current and of course the hard-working staff for your valuable contributions. 

​Background
On Sep 28, 2018, a 7.4 Richter scale devastated Palu, Central Sulawesi, which induced tsunami as high as 6 meters (20 feet) in Palu and surrounding area. The physical geography of Palu creates a disadvantage as the waves were funneled into the bay without no way out but over-flow inland.

Adding to the problem, the tsunami buoys did not function to gave warnings to the residents. Chaos took place after several waves pounded the coastline from Donggala to Palu, destroyed and damaged 65,733 houses , killing 1,234 people (as of Oct 3, 2018).
The airport of Palu was affected as 20% of the runway was damaged, causing a limitation with remaining 2,000 m runway. The airport was closed and only used for humanitarian efforts organized by the military and government agencies. The commercial flights were canceled.
HOPE worldwide rushed to the site as relief teams from Jakarta, Manado, and Makasar left the next day to reach Palu through almost 1,000 km. Life-saving supplies of food, water, medicine, and emergency shelter were rushed.

Once arrive in Palu, team distribute supplies to communities in need.The residents were restless as reports of lootings took place in several locations in the city. Adding to that, restless residents stormed the airport as hundreds (some reported thousands) flocked the apron on airport. At one point, they cover the runway, disturbing the activities of airplanes landing and taking off.
Residents scrambled to higher ground and needing assistance. The AHA Center reported that 1.5 million people affected by the earthquake and tsunami, and 191,000 people urgently needing assistance. Until the 5th day after the disaster, reports from various villages that they need food and shelters. Electricity was down, as well as clean water is scarce. The gas station ran out of fuels and created rationing and long lines.
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HUMANITARIAN NEEDS
The scale of disaster is beyond what the experts expected. The area was shutdown and is unreachable by air. Search and rescue teams struggled to arrive to location, while the government is not yet to open door for international search and rescue teams.
The government on Oct 2 list down main needs of displaced persons. This disaster will take a long journey for recovery. HOPE worldwide is standing by with the people of Central Sulawesi. We are mobilizing supplies and services as we try to save lives.
Please Pray for the efforts on the ground.

Fourteen Homes and Counting...

(The Lasting Impact of HOPE Youth Corps)

On all of our HWW volunteer Corps, we strive to create sustainable programs. We do not want to show up
in a location, do some token service for a week or two, and then disappear without establishing a beneficial
connection with the local work.

2015 saw us undertake a project to install water tanks at the Bokolma Clinic and at the Gumine Church of Christ. Trips by HOPE worldwide Australia and PNG staff and volunteers were made during June and October 2015 in support of this trip. Due to quickly changing circumstances, we had to leave the site and were not able to document the completion of the project, but we now have good news to share!

Water is available at both the clinic and ad the church. It is making a significant difference in the lives of many people in the community.

You can visit the HOPE worldwide PNG web site for more details about how this project is making a difference in the community at http://hopewwpng.org/2016/04/13/gumine-water-project-2015/.

Our supporting churches in Melbourne, Sydney, Goldcoast, Brisbane and Auckland took up a collection this week and together with online donations over $12,000 was raised to assist the drought affected communities in Gumine and Calvary in the Central Highlands of Papua New Guinea. An initial $7,000 has been transferred to Papua New Guinea to allow for the immediate purchase and delivery of food and water aid. The remainder of the funds will be sent in the following weeks to support the initial aid effort and depending on need will either provide more food supplies or provide longer term solutions (e.g. developing water supply). Felix Tokwepota (below), who leads the Port Moresby Church of Christ is setting up a committee to manage the food and water aid. I spoke to him earlier this week and he was greatly encouraged by the response from Australia to help. He wanted mme to pass on a big THANK YOU on behalf of the Papua New Guineas who will benefit. Please keep Papua New Guinea in your prayers- for the food and water aid to help many as well as for the drought to come to an end soon.

Felix on his way to the Highlands- earlier this year. He will be making another trip soon to assist with the drought effort